Fundraising Without Fear: How to Throw a Fundraising Houseparty

Ah, the fear of the ask! We have all been through it, whether as a board member, or part of a nonprofit staff.

One way to ease the fear of the ask is through a fundraising houseparty. One that I worked on when I was with a large university that had a nationally known writer's program included rounding up a handful of our better known writer/graduates, and pairing them with volunteers who were willing to host a party. The results were delightful evenings with our writer/stars that culminated in considerable support for the university. In that case, tickets to the parties were sold to the participants, the price of which constituted their donations.

That is a variation on the typical fundraising houseparty as described by Morrie Warshawski, an arts consultant and writer, in his fun-to-read book, The Fundraising Houseparty: How to Party with a Purpose and Raise Money for Your Cause (2nd edition). The process is simple and to the point:

• People receive an invitation to come to a party at a private home.
• The invitation makes it clear that the evening will be a fundraising event.
• Participants arrive and are served some refreshments.
• Participants sit through a brief presentation.
• The Host or a Peer--someone articulate, enthusiastic and respected by participants--stands up and asks everyone to make a contribution.

Now that is simple enough to garner a sigh of relief as you realize how non-threatening this process will be for you, the host, and the donors. Warshawski's little book (only 58 pages!) takes you through all the steps in detail...those details having been developed through Warshawski's experiences with many clients. And there are a lot of details, from the invitation list and finding hosts, to how the invitations should read. Warshawski leaves nothing out -- he even discusses parking and signage.

The book includes some valuable helps such as a pre-party checklist, a sample script for the host, a houseparty brainstorming worksheet and, my favorite part of the book, examples of real letters and invitations for house parties.

Warshawski has simplified giving a fundraising party to a "recipe" that anyone can follow. If you do follow it, you are virtually guaranteed success.

You can get The Fundraising Houseparty and other products by Warshawski at his website.

Photo by Rob Melnychuk/Getty Images